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Blood & ivory: Elephant poaching in Kenya

Tusks

Mountain Bull is a 6-ton male who has been frequently targeted by poachers -- and also has a nasty habit of crashing through fences and trampling local farm fields. A difficult decision was made to trim his tusks, in part to make him less attractive to poachers.

Credit: CBS

Mountain Bull

Mountain Bull, tranquilized after leading veterinarians on a one-hour chase through the brush in Northern Kenya. "The Bull" had been shot at frequently over the years -- in one attack he took six bullets, which remain lodged in his body.

Credit: CBS

Ivory

Mountain Bull's tusks were estimated to weigh about 40 kilograms, worth tens of thousands of dollars to the end buyer on the black market.

Credit: CBS

Mountain Bull

Mountain Bull de-tusked. Veterinarians took off about a third of the noble elephant's tusks.

Credit: CBS

Mountain Bull

Mountain Bull with CBS News cameraman Wim DeVos, who stalked "The Bull" for nearly and hour, with full camera gear, alongside the Kenyan Wildlife Service veterinarian who darted the elephant with tranquilizers.

Credit: CBS

Poacher's slaughter

A recently poached elephant, part of a family of six that was killed on or about October 27, brought down by a hail of 21 shots.

Credit: CBS

Elephant Family

A rare photograph of an elephant family visiting the carcass of a recently killed elephant. Some wildlife biologists believe elephants are emotionally close to humans and actually mourn their dead. These elephants have made repeated nightly visits to their recently deceased family member.

Credit: CBS

Kenya

The skull of a poached elephant in the Namunyak Wildlife Conservancy in Northern Kenya.

Credit: CBS

Kenya

Three elephants at a watering hole at the ol Donyo Lodge. CBS was hosted there by Richard Bonham, a conservationist who supports The Big Life Foundation.

Kenya

Elephant Family

A family group of elephants at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. Each elephant eats up to 300 pounds of grass, trees and bush in one day. Lewa currently has 297 elephants, a number that varies seasonally.

Credit: CBS

Ian Craig

Conservationist Ian Craig, co-founder of the Northern Rangelands Trust. The NRT is a non-profit that supports community wildlife & land conservancy groups, which currently encompass over 3 million acres.

Credit: CBS

Samburu tribesmen

Conservationist Ian Craig of the Northern Rangelands Trust visits with local group of Samburu tribesmen. Working with local communities to turn attitudes against poaching is a priority. Profits from safari tourism can be more valuable to local communities than poaching.

Credit: CBS

Samburu tribesmen

Conservationist Ian Craig of the Northern Rangelands Trust visits with local group of Samburu tribesmen. Working with local communities to turn attitudes against poaching is a priority. Profits from safari tourism can be more valuable to local communities than poaching.

Samburu tribesmen

Samburu tribesman

Portrait of a Samburu tribesman.

Credit: Wim DeVos

Hunting Party

Conservationist Ian Craig (right) was born in Kenya and once led hunting parties. But after accidentally witnessing a brutal elephant poaching, he decided to devote his life to protection of wildlife. More on his story at: http://www.lewa.org/all-about-lewa/lewa-staff/

Credit: Lewa Conservancy

Wildlife Rangers

Wildlife Ranger team at the Lewa Conservancy. Trained by the Kenyan Wildlife Service, private conservancies must pay for the protection teams.

Credit: CBS

Wildlife Ranger

Kenya has some of the best trained and best equipped patrol teams. But it has become a constant arms race with increasingly sophisticated poaching gangs.

Credit: CBS

Stakeout

Poaching gangs now use the light of the full moon to find their targets, so ranger teams have adapted and now often send patrol teams on all-night stakeouts.

Credit: CBS

Kenya

Orphaned Elephant

CBS News Science contributor M. Sanjayan visits the orphan of a recent poaching incident. The famed Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage is under enormous pressure from the crisis in poaching. More at SheldrickWildlifeTrust.org